Literally.

MONTPELIER, La. (AP) – State fire investigators spent Wednesday at a Louisiana plant that sold pickled pigs’ lips by the gallon through grocery and convenience stores around the Southeast…

The plant between Pine Grove and Montpelier made and packaged gallon jars of snacks including pickled eggs and pork lips, feet and hocks, and smaller jars of those and of pickled sausages and quail eggs.

It sold direct to stores within 150 miles of Mobile, Ala., and to chains including Wal-Mart, Winn Dixie and Piggly Wiggly.

I’ve eaten plenty of things I never would’ve expected, many of them in service to The Stranger—from raw horse to parking-lot pigeon to British-made “Cajun Squirrel Flavour Potato Crisps”—but I’ve never had the pleasure of chewing on a pig’s lips. You can buy me a jar as a late Christmas present here.

And, in honor of Southern conflagrations, please enjoy the dirty, fuzzy, incantatory blues of Elmo Williams and Hezekiah Early* playing “Natchez Fire”:

*From their bio:

Both Elmo & Hezekiah are from Natchez, Mississippi. Hezekiah Early, formerly of “Hezekiah and the House Rockers”, is still the only man going who can simultaneously beat drums and blow through harmonica with the aid of electrician’s tape and a mic stand. Hezekiah has no competion, that must be nice. Elmo, armed with a Yamaha guitar and a full Fender Band Master stack, does everything else. For Elmo, learning riffs has always come easy, as having respect for others, their beliefs, values and personal property has always been difficult.

Brend an Kiley has worked as a child actor in New Orleans, as a member of the junior press corps at the 1988 Republican National Convention, and, for one happy April, as a bootlegger’s assistant in Nicaragua....

5 replies on “Flaming Lips”

  1. My late grandfather used to love pickled pig’s feet and would take great pleasure from watching everyone else squirm whenever he’d reach into the jar, pull out a mass of gelatin covered hoof, then make great sucking and smacking sounds as he gnawed on his gristly treat.

    I miss my grandpa – but not his culinary tastes.

  3. Well, when you have balogne you are having cow lips, and gyros have lamb lips. I am guessing you are just unaware of your pig lip eating habits.

  5. More importantly, you are the only only person on the entire internet to use the word “literally” correctly so far this year. The lips were, indeed, literally, not figuratively, flaming. Good on ya, Brendan!

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